The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Azalea, botanically known as Rhododendron hybrida, an evergreen greenhouse-forcing type Azalea, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘YBAZ-2147’.
The new Azalea is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Alva, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Azalea varieties having uniform plant habit, profuse and uniform flowering response, dark green foliage, good foliage retention during the cooling and forcing periods, resistance to Cylindrocladium and excellent postproduction longevity.
The new Azalea is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Rhododendron hybrida cultivar YBAZ1812, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,499. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within a population of plants of the cultivar YBAZ1812 in June, 2002, in Alva, Fla. The selection of this plant was based on its attractive flower color.
Asexual reproduction of the new Azalea by terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. since November, 2002, has shown that the unique features of this new Azalea are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.